Public Events

The Berry Center was launched in the fall of 2006 with an inaugural address by Nobel Laureate Robert Solow, professor of economics emeritus at MIT. Since then prominent public intellectuals and policy experts have regularly visited the campus to present scholarly research or discuss issues in the public square.

The Berry Center also organizes symposia in applied economics, and panel discussions focused on contemporary issues in economics and public policy.

Prominent Public Lectures

Author of "Side Effects: The Economic Consequences of the Health Reform"

Mulligan is a well-regarded economics professor at the University of Chicago, author of 3 books, and writer of numerous op-eds and blog entries for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune,blogsupplyanddemand.com,and others. His research covers capital and labor taxation, the gender wage gap, health economics, Social Security, voting and the economics of aging.

Nobel Laureate Gary Becker, economist, University of Chicago

Nobel Laureate and University of Chicago economist Gary Becker gave a public lecture entitled "The Worldwide Boom in Higher Education and Why the United States is Falling Behind." Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992, Becker is one of the leading economic theorists of our time. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2000, and in 2007 he received the highest civilian award in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is the author of 10 books and more than 100 professional articles. His path-breaking research has included labor market discrimination, investments in human capital, the economics of marriage and divorce, the demand for children, and the economic determinants of crime and punishment. Prior to his public presentation, Becker met with a student reading group to discuss his research on the market for transplant organs.

Sam Peltzman, economist, University of Chicago

The causes and consequences of the 2008 financial crisis were the focus of a major public lecture by Professor Sam Peltzman, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago. Peltzman is one of the world's leading authorities on the economics of government regulation. He has long argued that unintended consequences frustrate the intent of government regulation, tending to make regulation ineffective or counter-productive. In his presentation, "Regulation and Financial Crisis: Unsafe at Any Speed", he explained how financial regulations, in particular deposit insurance, were offset by banks with riskier behavior that contributed to the 2008 crisis. Peltzman was the Director of the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago. He has also served on the President's Council of Economic Advisors. In addition to his public lecture, Peltzman met with students to discuss regulation in health care.

Robert Frank, economist, Cornell University

Internationally renowned behavioral economist Robert Frank lectured on the economic role of the government during his visit to Cornell. His public talk was entitled "The Libertarian Welfare State: Governing with a Light Touch." He argued that the government is justified in intervening in the market when private behavior has the potential for creating either direct or indirect social harm. Frank, an economics professor at Cornell University, is an expert on income inequality and contributes a monthly column to the New York Times. Frank also joined a Berry Center reading group for a discussion and book signing. The reading group used Frank's book The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas as their selection.

Tim Roemer, former U.S. Congressman and ambassador to India

The Berry Center hosted former Congressman and member of the 9/11 Commission Tim Roemer for a talk entitled "National Security Challenges in the 21st Century." As Congressman from the Third District of Indiana (1991-2003), Roemer was the leading Democrat on the U.S. House Education Committee when the No Child Left Behind legislation was passed. He was a member of the blue-ribbon 9/11 Commission, and served as U.S. ambassador to India in the Obama administration.

Additional Public Events Hosted by the Berry Center

Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate
Professor of Economics emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Low-Wage Work in High-Wage Countries"

Kevin Murphy
George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Economics, University of Chicago
"The Value of Improvements in Health and Longevity"

Robert J. SamuelsonWashington Post Columnist
"Europe and the World Economic Crisis"